Incumbent worker training helping to develop leaders

LIMA — For the past few years the Ohio Means Jobs-Allen County incumbent worker training dollars have helped employers like Spherion develop more marketable employees, according to Joe Patton, Allen County Jobs and Family Services Director.

On Wednesday, Ohio Means Jobs Allen County awarded Spherion with a $2,300 check at the Spherion location on 216 N. Elizabeth St. The funds will be utilized for a recent training program that helped managers learn how to better write advertisements to attract jobs seekers.

“During the training, our managers learned how to get the meat and sizzle into theirs ads,” said Karen Grothouse, Spherion CEO. “Our ads have increased because of that.”

With this new training, Spherion managers have been better able to market their ads to job seekers in 30 counties in Northwest Ohio.

“It’s so important to train our people,” said Grothouse. “If training our people to write better ads brings in at least five more people, it will allow them to fill a lot more shifts, which is huge.”

The incumbent worker training dollars has been utilized by Lima-area employers for the past couple of years, with Allen County being one of the first counties to spearhead the program, according to Patton.

The incumbent worker training is only available to Lima-area employees who have been employed by the company for six months or more.

“The goal of the incumbent worker training is to make the employee more viable and valuable for the employer,” said Patton. “It gives them extra skills and helps them either retain their employment or become more marketable to their employer.”

Through knowledge gained from the incumbent worker training, employees can better market their skills, which can lead to promotions and better wages, according to Patton. This training also helps with retention because the the employees who are being trained feel as if their companies are investing in them, according to Patton.

“When leaders get better, everybody wins,” said Patton.

Employers who are interested in the incumbent worker trainer should contact the Ohio Means Jobs-Allen County job center at 419-999-0360.